Chapter 14 Part 3: Faith Overloaded

Jun gritted his teeth. He knew this was reckless. He had never prayed so much in such a short time. While his faith had improved it wasn’t much past Mei’s yellow-nearly-blue, and the prayer was straining his body. He circulated it through Mei, trying to uncover all her wounds.

Arvad sat across from them, allowing Solara to tend to his injuries. One glance, and you could see who had taken more damage, so why was he still conscious?

As Jun explored Mei’s body, he found cuts and scrapes. Her blood was low, thin, but not enough that she should be out cold like this. No concussions either. Then he sensed it. Her extra organ. It was hot. His prayer was rejected. Jun’s eyes widened and he stopped his own prayers. He forced his body to eject what he accumulated, healing minor inconveniences in both of them. While she was weakened, nothing should have taken her out like this. However, if it was prayer, perhaps she had accumulated too much, and he had nearly done the same. His right ear tickled.

‘Pray.’ Jun chewed on his lip. Not wanting to loose his faith or ignore the Silver Flame’s commands, he did as instructed.

‘Good. Now, tap into her prayer.’

“I can do that?”

‘This is not a normal situation. I will drain her instead of you. You just have to act as the conduit.’

Jun did as she instructed, allowing a thin line of his prayer to connect from his hand to her organ. He felt the prayer extracted through him, letting out a groan, his face contorting. This may be a method to solve this, but he hadn’t expected it to feel like this. A heat that seemed to make his blood boil, his innards shake. If he had two working arms, he would have clutched at his mouth, trying to keep the rising bile contained. He forced a bit of his prayer to stimulate his saliva glands and it kept the bile down. He only hoped his prayer wouldn’t run out first.

Solara watched him intently then he heard her apologize to Arvad before coming over to Mei. As she hovered her hand over Mei’s body, her eyes grew wide, darting to his. He offered a weak smile before closing his eyes, concentrating on staying the conduit.

It wasn’t long before he felt a hand on his back.

“How can I help?”

Jun looked back, Solara’s blue calm eyes helped him clear his mind.

“Can you…” he paused. How could he explain what to do for his stomach, let alone the pain. “Just… do your best.”

“I won’t pretend to understand what it is you are doing. Are you sure about that answer?”

‘I’ll guide you,’ Serena spoke up, her apparition appearing. ‘Though we will need to talk, Jun.’ Her tone was cold.

“After this is over…” Jun relented. “I’ll explain.”

“Good.” Solara forced her prayer into him and he flinched. Having three different prayers in him was not pleasant. Solara changed as she sensed things, opting to have her prayer spread around him—surface level till she covered his mouth. Jun found it slightly suffocating but she stopped the bile and made it retreat, calming it. Once she was done, she moved to his head and he felt her probing, searching for the places he had described. Eventually the pain receded as she found the receptors and covered them. Her work was sloppy but effective. She also seemed to be using methods he wasn’t familiar with. Serena guided her throughout.

With her help, they finished draining Mei’s prayer, leaving just a small amount so she could use her eyes. With the process complete, Jun retracted his hand leaning against the side of the cot, sighing and then breathing deeply. Solara’s prayer left him and then she moved to Mei, checking her over. Jun closed his eyes, resting. He heard her move to Arvad and continue working. Jun didn’t bother, allowing his limbs their needed respite. Mei was safe, and stable and that was enough.

He stayed by her side through the night, making sure to keep her blood flow stable and whatever else he could think of to make her comfortable. He could feel the stares as others watched. Solara’s advice was to ignore them. It was normal behavior when healers worked.

“I’m sorry.” Arvad’s words drew them from the silence. Jun waited, confused why he had remained quiet all this time. He wasn’t looking at Mei. His green eyes stared into Jun’s. Jun tilted his head and Arvad looked away.

“I should have protected her better.”

Jun felt a tug at the corner of his mouth.

“She overloaded on her prayer. Her injuries weren’t as severe as yours.” Solara answered. Arvad’s wide eyes darted between the two and Jun nodded. The young man let out a shaky breath as he closed his eyes.

Eventually, Arvad left. Mei woke shortly after.

“Where’s Arvad?” her voice was high. Jun placed his hand on hers and she stilled.

“He left a bit ago. How are you feeling?” Jun asked. Mei slumped and then rolled her neck, stopping for a bit and then answering.

“Better. I think. My limbs ache.”

Jun waited as she explained. He sent a sliver of his prayer to circulate to the areas she mentioned. Her cells trembled, though some shifted slower. He worked to heal the minor disturbances until she was better. His prayer was depleted and he silently began to fill it again, praying with gratitude that everyone was fine.

“So… what happened out there?” he asked, the burning question had been plaguing his mind but he wasn’t sure if Arvad had seen their attackers. If he had, why had he remained silent about it.

Mei’s jaw shifted and she pulled on her mask. She looked to Solara who bowed and excused herself.

“She catches on quick…” Mei muttered. Jun half smiled. “Well. The Jinshari got us on the island. I didn’t take them out, so they attacked Arvad and then I guess that’s when I started to pray and then blacked out.”

“You overloaded your prayer.” Jun clarified. Mei pondered on it and then nodded slowly. Jun waited for her to say something but plowed onto his next thought when she remained silent. “But… I thought-“

“They mentioned that. Had a message for you.” Jun stilled as Mei spoke. The message was simple. Mei wasn’t allowed away from his side. She summarized alluding to not being able to be close because of the White Flame, but that if they wandered too far, they would still cause trouble. Mei looked down, her shoulders drooping.

Jun felt his jaw grind, but placed a hand on her shoulders.

“Anything else?” He could sense it. She wasn’t telling him everything.

“It’s… Well… Arvad knows I’m an Alinta.”